Mike's Chocolate Cake Cookies

Ok, these are really titled "Amazing Chocolate Cake Cookies" from http://www.bakingbites.com/. However, my brother-in-law Mike likes them so much that I have decided to rename them for my blog. :) They really are amazing - very chocolatey! It's probably the amount of sugar that makes them so good (and so bad for me). I actually did sustitute some Splenda the last time I made them (only about 1/4-1/3 cup) and couldn't tell a difference.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups semisweet (or chip of your choice!) chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix to incorporate. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.Mix together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a separate bowl with a fork or whisk until even in color. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.Bake for 11 minutes at 350 F. The cookies will appear to be just barely firm with a sheen to their surfaces. Allow to cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

Notes: Follow the baking time EXACTLY! They come just right at 11 minutes! I tried these with peanut butter chips (in picture), which were good but doesn't quite have the same effect as the chocolate chips. Next time I am trying a mixture of milk chocolate and peanut butter chips.